Pieces of the Puzzle
by AnotherBook
Summary: Sequel to Alone. Obi-Wan is captured. Anakin, Ahsoka, and Obi-Wan's padawan Ben are in pursuit of him and his captors. This is it. There's no where left to run. The Pieces of the Puzzle are coming together for the finale.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **Ladies and gentlemen! Devoted readers and new comers! I give you _Pieces of the Puzzle_, the continuing story of_ Alone_. If you have not read _Alone_, I advise you to do so at once. If you already have, bravo and read on! I hope you enjoy, and please leave a review!

**Pieces of the Puzzle**

Part I

Obi-Wan had been dragged out of the hold and was being held by two guards, watching through the window the planet as they approached it. To be honest, the only reason he was still on his feet was because of the guards, who gripped his arms, keeping him upright. Obi-Wan knew it shouldn't really surprise him, Jenna Zan Arbor having so much fun messing with his mind and all, that she would choose this place to hide. But still, the name echoed through Obi-Wan's mind, as well as the memories that went with it. The heat, the tall buildings, and the ocean.

Bandomeer.

Of all places, Jenna Zan Arbor had set up a secret lab on this desolate wasteland. The Agricorps work was slowly reviving the planet, but there was still so little there. Obi-Wan watched as the ship headed down, and was hardly surprised when it turned and headed toward the ocean that covered half of the world's surface. Again, he was hardly surprised when they landed on a platform that had obviously once been a mining platform. The guards dragged Obi-Wan off the ship after Dooku and Arbor. Jenna stepped forward and spread out her arms as if to encompass the whole platform.

"Welcome," she said, "to my humble laboratory, in which I conduct my most special and secretive research operations."

Dooku looked around skeptically. "I hope the inside is more habitable than the outside." he said.

"Oh, it is," Jenna assured. "I ordered a full renovation on the inside. We've even expanded the mining tunnels beneath the water, but the outside must remain as is to keep up the illusion that it is an abandoned mine." She motioned to the nearby door, which appeared to have rusted shut. But Obi-Wan knew that appearances can be deceiving. Jenna easily pushed open the door and everyone followed her in.

Obi-Wan was surprised to see white corridors, a spotless floor, and a cleaning droid slowly moving down the hall. The last time he had been here, it had all been dark, damp, and an unhealthy environment to live in. Jenna continued down the hall and took a few turns, until the group reached a lift tube. "This will take us down to the seafloor." Jenna explained. "We have most of our labs down there, as well as our holding cells." A pair of humans in white lab coats exited the lift and nodded to Jenna before moving off in another direction. The group then entered the lift and it went down.

"I've heard that there are some traces of ionite in the seafloor of Bandomeer." Dooku commented. Obi-Wan didn't blame him for bringing that up. He was curious himself as to how Jenna dealt with the ionite. Even small pieces of ionite carried an electric pulse, not positive and not negative, but neutral, with the effect that timers and equipment went dead.

"Oh, we've developed technology and timers that remain unaffected by the ionite." Jenna answered. "We will be perfectly safe."

Ahsoka walked into the back room and found Ben sitting on the edge of the sleep couch. She sat down next to him. "You all right?" she asked, concern creeping into her voice.

"Fine." Ben said without looking up. "Just tired."

"Then why don't you sleep?"

Ben shook his head. "Can't." he said.

"Bad dreams?"

Ben sighed. "I don't know why it keeps coming back." Ahsoka stared steadily at him and he sighed again. "I keep hearing this voice." he admitted, and Ahsoka nodded for him to continue. "And I keep hearing my master calling for me to destroy 'it'. At first I didn't know what he meant, but after our discovery on Zuno I think 'it' is the Extractor. So there will probably be a choice that I'll have to make between my master and my duty. That's not the worst though." Ben took a deep breath. "I've felt something, a presence so dark that no light in the galaxy could penetrate it. Apparently whoever it was felt me, and he defended himself by attacking my mind." Ben winced slightly. "Then there's a voice. 'I'll find you, you can't hide, I'll find you…' and then I wake up. From then on I can't meditate without hearing it, and I whenever I sleep I have that dream."

Ahsoka frowned, and Ben could practically see her thinking. "Sounds like a Sith, a very powerful Sith." Ahsoka finally said. Then her eyes widened and she ran off, Ben following. "Master!" she cried, rushing into the cockpit. Anakin turned around from his place in front of the nav computer.

"What is it, Snips? I'm double-checking Windu's directions to this middle-of-nowhere planet."

"Master," Ahsoka gasped, "I think Ben felt Sidious' presence!"

Both Ben and Anakin shouted out at once, "What!?"

"It makes sense!" Ahsoka insisted. "All the Sith I've ever faced have all had this last residue of light, never total dark, just very, very dark. Even Ventress under all her anger was once a good person. But what you felt, wow! It had to be Sidious, a Sith who never knew goodness as far as we know. His presence would be total darkness, no light at all! Just pure, _pure_ evil."

Anakin turned to Ben. "Is this true?" he asked excitedly.

Ben shrugged. "Well, yes, and it would explain why he said he'd hunt me down."

"You heard his voice? Do you think you'd recognize it again?"

"Maybe." Ben said hesitantly. "His voice _was_ kind of familiar." This surprised both Ahsoka and Anakin.

"We don't have time for this now." Anakin said, coming out of it. "We'll be coming out of hyperspace in a few hours and we need to prepare. We'll be landing in the capital city, Bandor, and we will be in disguise."

"Yay!" said Ahsoka. They set about to prepare for the landing.

Dooku sat in his borrowed office, looking over the interior. It was not high up on his best-offices list, but he had to admit Miss Arbor knew how to balance comfort with practicality. He bent down and opened his bag, pulling out a sliver cylinder. It was Kenobi's lightsaber, that had been found in a secret Force-locked compartment in his bunk on Zuno. He turned it over in his hand, looking at each detail. "Excellent craftsmanship." he muttered.

"I was wondering what had happened to that." someone remarked from the door. Dooku put it back in his bag and turned to face Jenna.

"Is the prisoner secure?" he asked.

"Yes." Jenna answered. "He won't be going anywhere, unless he wants to drown."

"Very good."

Jenna turned to leave, but turned back, recalling why she had come. "I'm going to Bandor for supplies. I'll be back by dusk." She left and Dooku didn't call her back. He wasn't worried about her double-crossing him. He knew that she knew what would happen to her if she dared.

_Now,_ he thought, leaning back in his chair,_ to meditate on the problem my master wishes corrected._

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

Part II

Ahsoka and Ben followed Anakin through the streets of Bandor. They weren't very crowded. Ben could see mining towers all over the place, and almost everyone he noticed were in jumpsuits. "All right," Anakin said, looking around the street, "if you see anyone or anything suspicious, familiar, evil, etc…"

"Yell for the police?" Ahsoka guessed. She and Ben laughed and Anakin frowned.

"No, tell _me_." Anakin corrected.

"Yes, Master Skyguy." Ahsoka answered.

"Ahsoka," Anakin said, rolling his eyes, "keep a lookout and stop fooling around."

"Copy that, master, keeping a lookout now."

Ben continued to make his way down the street and stopped listening to the banter between the two. The only banter he would give anything to hear was that between his master and Master Skywalker. That brought his mind back to his dream, or vision, or whatever it was. He knew the voice, he knew he did, he just couldn't remember where he had heard it before…

He was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he wasn't watching where he was going and ran straight into someone. He fell back, but caught himself before the he hit the ground. "Oh dear! You really should watch where you're going." He looked up. The person whom he had run into was looking at him oddly, or so Ben assumed by the tilt of her head. She was wearing dark-lensed glasses so he couldn't exactly tell. He caught a very familiar glimpse of red hair from under her hood. Jenna Zan Arbor.

"Yes, y…you're absolutely right." he stammered, then cleared his throat. _Don't let her think I recognized her._ he thought.

Jenna smiled, apparently pleased at having been told she was right, even if it was about such a trivial thing as walking down a street. "You know," she said slowly, "you remind me of…" She trailed off and shook her head, before continuing on her way. Ben caught up with Ahsoka, who was still following behind her master. She looked quizzically at Ben.

"Where were you?" she asked.

"I think I just ran into Zan Arbor."

"What?!" Ahsoka exclaimed. Anakin stopped and turned to them.

"What, what?" he asked.

"Ben just ran into Dr. Arbor!" Ahsoka said excitedly before Ben could answer, earning her an annoyed look from said person.

"I can speak for myself, you know." he said, turning to Anakin. "I just ran into someone. Dark glasses, red hair hidden under her hood, and a condescending voice common among villains and scientists alike."

"Well, where did she go?!"

"Down that street." Ben answered. The three took off after her.

Obi-Wan had fallen asleep. He had to have. That, or he was delirious. Because there was no way he was back on Bandomeer, was the captive of Jenna Zan Arbor, and was being experimented on for a new interrogation device, thing. And even if all the above were true, there was no way Ben, Anakin and Ahsoka were there as well. But he was sure he felt them, distant, but there. He began to wonder if the pinch-yourself-and-you-wake-up myth that Siri advocated was true. He moved to do so, but a tap on the thick transparisteel window caught his attention. It was a fish, or some aquatic creature. A BIG fish. "The Agricorps must be doing well if the ocean is populated again." he muttered.

"Oh, they are." a voice called, seeming to come from everywhere. "Even without you." A short pause, then the voice continued, "But then, that was never your fate."

"Qui-Gon." Obi-Wan said softly. Qui-Gon Jinn materialized before him, standing tall and erect, with that same happy-sad, bittersweet and a bit teasing smile Obi-Wan had seen for years and that was ingrained in his memory. The apparition squatted down next to him.

"Now I know I'm dreaming." Obi-Wan sighed. "Anakin and Ben, and Ahsoka of course, they aren't really here, are they? This is just a hallucination?"

Qui-Gon's smile broadened, though there was still that touch of sadness. "No, this is real." he said. "Anakin, Ben and Ahsoka are really here, in Bandor, tracking Jenna Zan Arbor at the moment if I'm not mistaken."

Obi-Wan smiled back. "Which, if my memory is serving me correctly, you usually are."

Qui-Gon looked hurt, but the sparkle in his eyes gave him away. "Ah, then it must not be serving you correctly, Padawan," he insisted, "for it was you who was often mistaken."

"Oh, really?" Qui-Gon broke into another smile, then sobered.

"I can not be here for long, Obi-Wan, as usual. I'm still getting control of my appearances to you. Let me assure you, though, help is on the way."

Obi-Wan sighed again, but this time with a more contented air. "Thank you, Master Qui-Gon." Qui-Gon smiled and disappeared. Obi-Wan, still too exhausted to move from his position on the floor, turned back to the window and watched the fish-like creatures. "I wonder if Si Treemba is still on Bandomeer." Obi-Wan muttered before really falling asleep.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: **I'm sorry my updates fell behind! And a bit of a warning, there will be no updates till August after this week, I'm not even sure if I'll be able to update next week at all. My apologies but schedules get busy, vacations come up, and there are no computers in the wild. Still, enjoy this chapter! Read and review!

Part III

Ben, Anakin and Ahsoka hurried down the streets of Bandor without appearing to do so as much as possible. "You're sure she went this way?" Anakin asked Ben as the swung round a corner.

"Positive." Ben replied. The three stopped and looked around at the more crowded market street. It was then that Ben spotted a familiar person whose bright red hair was falling out from under her hood. "There." Ben said, nodding towards Jenna Zan Arbor. They took off again, weaving through the crowd. Anakin and Ahsoka pulled ahead and Ben was once again behind them. Once again, he bumped into someone. It was an Arconan. "Sorry, sir." Ben said quickly and tried to hurry by, but was stopped by the Arconan's words, well, _word_.

"Obi-Wan?"

Ben swung back around. "You know my master?" Ben asked. The Arconan nodded.

"If your master is Obi-Wan Kenobi, who saved our life twice when we first met, then yes." he said. "Our name is Si Treemba, and you are?"

"Ben Kenobi, Obi-Wan's my uncle as well as my master." Ben said, shaking the hand that was offered.

"Ben!" Anakin called and came rushing back. "Zan Arbor stopped at the Agricorps' fruit stall. Ahsoka is keeping tabs on her. What happened?" Suddenly becoming aware of Si Treemba, standing there listening. "Who are you?" Anakin asked.

"We are Si Treemba."

"Anakin Skywalker." Anakin's com beeped.

"Skyguy," Ahsoka said, "Arbor's on the move. Where are you?"

"I found Ben. We'll be with you in a minute." Anakin shut off his com. "It was nice to meet you, Si Treemba, but we have a friend to rescue, so…"

"Is Obi-Wan in trouble?" Si Treemba asked quickly.

"How do you know…? Never mind, you can tell us on the way. That is, if you want to come along." Si Treemba's face brightened.

"We would be happy to help rescue our old friend."

"Then come on!" With that, they were off.

Ahsoka wove through the crowd, watching Zan Arbor. She felt a presence at her shoulder and turned. "So," Shaniel said, matching Ahsoka's stride, "here we are, just like I said."

Ahsoka jumped. "How did you find us?!" she demanded. "Wait, don't tell me. Author sense, right?"

Shaniel smiled. "Officially, no. I contacted Mace Windu and he gave us your coordinates. _Un_-officially, yes."

"Where's Siri?" asked Ahsoka.

"Right here." Siri answered, materializing out of the crowd next to Shaniel. "Now let's go rescue old stick-in-the-mud Kenobi."

Dooku slammed the datapad on his desk. Miss Arbor had done her part; he could skip scenes now, but Kenobi had hidden and confused the memories that Dooku had been after. They would have to go through the whole process again. _Honestly,_ Dooku thought, _you'd think that people would realize that resistance is useless and it only harms them and delays the inevitable. That Jedi my master wants, for instance, you'd think he would be curious enough to try again. It would certainly help my search for him._ Dooku sighed and contacted Zan Arbor.

"What is it?"

"Watch your tone, Arbor, or you'll be my next testing subject."

"Of course, my lord, what is it you require?"

"We need to do it again."

"Do it again? I'm not sure if his mind would survive…"

"I don't care." Dooku interrupted. "As long as I get what I require from him I don't care if he dies or loses his memory, or whatever could happen. You obviously don't realize how important this is to the war effort, or to your career for instance." There was silence on the other end for a moment.

"Of course, my lord. I shall do so as soon as I return." The com channel was cut off, and Dooku leaned back in his seat.

"Do it again? I'm not sure if his mind would survive…"

Siri nearly gasped, but she bit her lip and forced it back down. She couldn't hear Dooku's reply (at least, she thought it was Dooku,) but she did hear the next thing Zan Arbor said. "Of course, my lord. I shall do so as soon as I return."

"We have to find Obi-Wan before she gets back." she whispered to the Padawans. They were waiting for Anakin and Ben to catch up with them, still following Zan Arbor of course. They were hiding behind a stall as they watched Zan Arbor go over the goods she had bought, and the list. "We _must_ get there first." Siri whispered again, more to herself than to the girls. Shaniel glanced sympathetically at her master.

"And we will," she whispered back, "as soon as Anakin and Ben… as soon as _they_," she corrected, "get here, we'll go and rescue Obi-Wan."

Siri perked up, or appeared to, and agreed, "You're right, what could go wrong?" Ahsoka groaned and Shaniel grinned knowingly.

"Why'd you have to say that?" Ahsoka groaned. Siri looked back and forth between them, not understanding what was wrong.

"I didn't know you were superstitious, Ahsoka." Siri said, puzzled. "But I don't believe in saying one thing and another happening."

"Do you believe in hidden authors?" Ahsoka asked, earning an elbowing from Shaniel. Siri shook her head, as if to say, _Padawans, or at least Anakin's and my Padawans._

"Master Plo says you don't want to invite trouble." Ahsoka protested.

"Just let it go, Ahsoka." Siri said.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:** I'm back from vacation, and will TRY to keep up with the posts on here. And for those of you waiting for a hole in the heart, I'll continue working on that as soon as I can. Read and review!

Part IV

A doctor came in to check on Obi-Wan's health, physical and mental. Shaking his head, as if displeased, the doctor left again. Obi-Wan sank back down to the floor from the standing position he had held. He curled into a ball, feeling cold.

Dooku stared coldly at the doctor who stood across from him. "He is still recovering," the doctor said, "both physically and mentally. It could be disastrous to operate on him before…" Dooku stood and the doctor faltered in his speech.

"I am well aware of this, Doctor…"

"Brulion." the doctor said meekly.

"Brulion, I did not ask for your opinion, I merely agreed to an examination because of Miss Arbor's and your insistence. You will do as I command, and I command you to begin preparation for the operation."

The doctor bowed repeatedly and backed out of the room. "Y-yes, of course, my lord… as you wish, my lord." He left and darted down the hall, in an effort to get as far away as he could from the Count, as fast as possible.

Siri pushed and heaved at the boat from one side while Ahsoka and Shaniel worked from the other. She heard approaching footsteps and signaled the two Padawans. They froze and watched silently as Siri made her way to the door of the boathouse. She distinguished three sets of footfalls. She was preparing to leap out and confront them when she felt a ripple in the Force, a gentle, testing nudge. Instead, she walked right out into the open. "Something wrong with your com, Skywalker?" she asked testily.

"Master Tachi?! What are you doing here?" Anakin asked.

"Oh, so formal all of a sudden?" she said, ignoring the question. "Where's Ben? Don't tell me you let him get captured too."

"He's right behind me." Anakin answered, annoyed. "And what happened to Obi-Wan isn't my fault. I was the one trying to talk him out of going in the first place!"

Siri opened her mouth to list all of the reasons why it was his fault and what she would do to him if they weren't able to rescue Obi-Wan when Ben and an Arconan stepped out of the shadows. "Master Tachi, Ahsoka said you and Shaniel would be coming." Ben greeted.

Siri smiled at Ben. "At least _one_ of you knows how to be civil." She punctuated this with a look at Anakin that said _this is not over_. She turned to the Arconan. "I see you two have inherited Qui-Gon's and Obi-Wan's, though he would deny having it, skill for picking up extra hands."

"That would be him." Anakin said, pointing at Ben.

"Well, you were the one who said he should come along." Ben countered.

"Enough!" Siri snapped. "We don't have time for this." She turned to Si Treemba. "Listen, I don't know who you are, but this is going to be dangerous."

"We are used to danger." Si Treemba insisted. "We faced danger many times when we first met Obi-Wan." Siri's eyes lit up.

"I remember you! You're Si Treemba, aren't you! I've only heard Obi-Wan speak of one Arconan." Si Treemba straightened proudly.

"Yes, we are Si Treemba, now will you let us come with you? We haven't seen Obi in years!"

"So, where's Zan Arbor?" Anakin asked. Siri got back to the mission at hand.

"She left by sea. Ahsoka, Shaniel and I are working to get a boat free so we can follow her."

"Ever think of using the automatic boat launcher?" Anakin asked. Siri glared at him.

"Of course, you bantha head! That's the first thing we tried! It's jammed and it will take forever to fix it."

"If she went by sea," Si Treemba cut in, "then she is going to one of the old deep-sea mining platforms. We know where the closest one is, and we also know where a sub speeder is." Anakin and Siri exchanged glances.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Ben asked.

Siri sat on the metal chair that served as the co-pilot's seat. Beside her, Anakin messed with the controls while Si Treemba gave a quick tutorial and punched in the coordinates. She leaned back and closed her eyes, the noise dimming down (though there was quite a lot of it, due to the intense Apples-to-Apples game taking place in the main area) and immersed herself in the Force. She had no idea if Obi-Wan could hear her or not, but she sent out a silent call.

_I'm coming, Obi-Wan, and you had better be alive when I get there so I can kill you for getting captured, you goose!_

Obi-Wan didn't move as the scientists and doctors brought in the pieces of the Extractor and began assembling it. He concentrated on fighting the shivers that threatened to start his whole body shaking with the cold. Who knew it was so cold underwater? He felt a consciousness nudge his, a familiar touch. Siri. She was here, she was coming. He felt her concern, she knew what they were going to do, obviously, and her annoyance with him that she was using to try and hide her concern. The feeling left him as she withdrew. Obi-Wan smiled and made the mistake of glancing at the machine. He knew Siri would come; he just hoped that he would still be here when she did. And he didn't even want to start thinking about Anakin, or Ben…

_So don't._ he told himself. _Don't think about it._

TBC


End file.
